She’s 10, and the same goes for her friends Adam and Ian Arthur. The brothers are 10 and 7, respectively.

For the sixth annual STEAM Expo, the trio studied the impact of music on plants, but found that pure nitrogen fertilizer worked best.

The trio loves science, they said, but Kelly said she wants to be a lawyer or work for NASA. Adam wants to work in ecology and Ian isn’t sure what he wants to do yet, but he’s only in second grade.

They love science, Kelly said because “you create things. We can say we’ve brought something to life.”

It took hours of work every week for about two months, but they were happy how their project turned out.

The project wasn’t even for class credit, Ian said.

“We just wanted to do it,” he said.

Kelly said she read about the La Nina weather pattern possibly causing drought conditions in some areas.

“We thought if we could help the growth of plants in the world and the community, we’re all for it,” the fifth grader said.

The expo is a partnership with the Great Falls Public Schools and the City of Great Falls’ Earth Day efforts.

Luke Diekhans coordinates the event and said about 350 students participating representing kindergarten through 12th grade with about 200 projects.

“We always try to push for the technology aspect,” Diekhans said. “Technology is only becoming larger.”

Airmen from Malmstrom Air Force Base’s explosive ordnance disposal team brought robots and kids built bridges out of straws with the help of a structural engineer from TD&H. Other local organizations also participated.

“We want to engage kids in these fields,” Diekhans said. “We’re gaining their interest from the earliest levels.”

At the TD&H table, kids also designed their own parks with the help of Jana Cooper, a landscape architect.

Cooper is also working on the city’s park master plan and throughout the expo, gathered input from kids on what would improve parks in their opinion.